Tag: germany

I hadn’t thought twice about the fact that I didn’t even know of any German furniture stores before I moved into my unfurnished apartment. I’d assumed I would buy everything from Ikea however, it turned out that Ikea is great for some items but not so good for others. I found myself having to look…

I love spoiling my friends on their birthdays: making them feel extra special as they celebrate one more year of life. I love giving thoughtful gifts, writing nice messages in cards and making sure the person who’s birthday it is gets spoilt. So yes, I was very surprised to find my friends buying me drinks…

The stare I received as I quickly tried to get to the other side of the road in Germany in 2012 was so piercing that I’ve not forgotten it until this day. And it took a few of these unwelcoming stares for me to realises that I was being frowned upon for crossing the road…

“Zusammen oder getrennt?” Together or separate asks the waiter/ess as you finish a meal with friends and request to pay the bill. If you’re wondering what is meant by this, in Germany you are literally asked if you want to split the bill between the table or if one individual will be covering everyone. Honestly, I think…

After being asked about what it’s like to be a woman of colour in Frankfurt, specifically a black woman, and if I have experienced any racism, I’ve decided to share my experiences with you. I always start by saying that I don’t work in a strictly German environment, in fact, due to the nature of…

“What!? How can an apartment not come with a kitchen?” Is the exact reaction I had when I first found out that German apartments do not necessarily come with a kitchen. I mean, really, how is that even possible? It’s like the bathroom coming without a bath/ shower or like a friend of mine said,…

Imagine being hungry, like really hungry and instead of offering you a nice, filling, savoury meal, someone asks you if you want slice of cake. Noooo, I don’t want cake, I’m starving, I want real food! I recently went to a cafe with a group of friends (German and non-German) and given that it was…

Being sick is a weak excuse in the London office. Unless everyone can see that you have dragged yourself to work that morning, are looking extra rough, tried to act as if you’re not ill, but still ended up nearly fainting at your desk, you’re either completely faking it, exaggerating or running out of annual…

Essential organisation is required for the brutal 3 minute procedure of having your food practically chucked at you after being scanned, whilst you’re expected to pack, swipe your points card, sign after using your debit card (because apparently a PIN just isn’t good enough) and then maybe you’ll get a “tschüß” if you’re lucky as…

Germans are so direct that the term ‘small talk’ doesn’t even exist in their language. Why? It’s just not something they do. Regardless of whether it’s a touchy subject or not, Germans jump straight to the point in conversation, rather than beating around the bush and facing confrontation as indirectly as possible, as do the…

We want to travel the world, visit as many continents as possible, touch base in as many countries as possible and explore as many cities as possible. Every time we book a flight we get a rush of excitement as we look forward to leaving the countries we live in for a new and unfamiliar…

So you’re at a social event and there are a few friend’s of friends who you’ve not yet met. As usual, you introduce yourself and oh.. err.. this suddenly becomes seriously awkward as you dive in for a hug whilst the other person politely offers their hand. “What!? Have I missed something?” Nope, this isn’t…

“Memorise the definite article table!” Yes, everyone says that, but the question is how? At first, I avoided learning the ridiculous number of definite articles in the hope that I’d just pick it up over time, but I soon gave in when I realised that my optimism wasn’t getting me anywhere! 15 years of speaking…

Yesterday, I was one of approx. 65,000 people in Frankfurt to evacuate their homes after a British-made bomb (1.4 tonnes of TNT) was found not far from my flat. Wednesday 30th August As my housemate and I scrolled through an online article after hearing the news on Tuesday, I finally accepted that this was happening…